10075 Commons St. Lone Tree CO 80124 www.lonetreeartscenter.org

Contact: Leigh Chandler, Marketing Director FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Phone: 720-509-1007 October 9, 2019 Fax: 720-509-1101 Email: [email protected]

ALLAN HARRIS TRIO CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF NAT KING COLE Internationally Renowned Vocalist, Guitarist, and Composer Returns to the Lone Tree Arts Center

LONE TREE, CO – Allan Harris returns to the Arts Center to honor the 100th birthday of Nat King Cole. Over the past 20 years, Harris has steadily developed his reputation as one of the finest vocalists of his era. Brooklyn-born and Harlem-based, he has forged his sterling credentials through his ten previous albums, covering a broad range of contexts, all netted together within the rich territory of the jazz tradition. With this performance, Harris honors the legacy of Nat King Cole, singing favorites and lesser- known gems that will make for an “Unforgettable” evening. Allan Harris Trio: 100 Years of Nat King Cole plays the Lone Tree Arts Center on Friday, November 1, 2019 at 8pm.

Ever since he burst on the jazz scene in the latter part of the twentieth century, vocalist/guitarist/ bandleader/composer Allan Harris has reigned supreme as one of the most accomplished and exceptional singers of his generation. Aptly described by the Miami Herald as an artist blessed with “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King' Cole,” the ample and aural evidence of Harris’ moving and magisterial artistry can be heard on his fourteen recordings as a leader, as well as his far-flung and critically-acclaimed concerts around the world, from Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, and Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, to the 2012 London Olympics.

He has won numerous awards, including the New York Nightlife Award for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist,” which he won three times; the Backstage Bistro Award for “Ongoing Achievement in Jazz;” France's Palmarès Award for 3rd Best Jazz Vocal Album; the Harlem Speaks “Jazz Museum of Harlem Award;” the

DownBeat Critics Award as “Rising Star Vocalist;” two New York Hot House Jazz Magazine Awards for “Best Male Vocalist;” the PACE Award for “Best Jazz Vocalist Miami;” the Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival’s Voices of the West “Lyrically Speaking” Award, and he was nominated for New York Musical Festival Award “Best Of Fest Song” for the tune I Must Believe. Harris has also been nominated for four Audelco Awards for his musical Cross That River, selected to premiere at the first ASCAP New Musical Theatre Workshop, and he is a recipient of the Chamber Music America Residency Grant Award.

Harris has performed with or opened for numerous artists, including Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Diana Krall, Abbey Lincoln, Natalie Cole, comedian Alan King, Al Jarreau, Reverend Al Green, Lee Ritenour, Michael Feinstein, Cassandra Wilson, and Wynton Marsalis. In addition, Harris has sung or recorded with big bands and orchestras around the world, including the Metropole Orchestra, the Berlin Jazz Orchestra, the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, the Moscow Jazz Orchestra, the RTE National Concert Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Turkish TRT Big Band, Latvian Radio Orchestra, and the EFG London Jazz Festival Orchestra.

Harris has recorded two CDs for the Mons label: It’s a Wonderful World, a sumptuous sextet date featuring pianist Benny Green, bassist Ray Brown, guitarist Mark Whitfield, drummer Jeff Hamilton, and trumpeter Claudio Roditi; and Here Comes Allan Harris and The Metropole Orchestra, a grand affair with Harris fronting the celebrated fifty four-piece Dutch ensemble. Harris’ reverent recordings are augmented by his many radio broadcasts including NPR’s JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater and Piano Jazz, as well as Michael Feinstein's Jazz and Popular Song series and The Genius of Eddie Jefferson live from Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Back in Harlem, Harris is the jazz vocal King of New York, as evidenced by his potpourri of engagements, including an impressive run as a featured soloist and producer of Sotheby’s three-year jazz series. His commitment to education is as equally impressive as his recordings and engagements. A D'Angelico guitarist, Harris is a long-time supporter of the St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital, Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, and each year he donates a performance to Challenge America/Aspen, along with Vince Gill and Amy Grant. Harris says, “I’m a storyteller through the genre of jazz.”

Backing up Allan will be ArcoIris Sandoval on piano, Nimrod Speaks on bass, and Karina Colis on drums.

Karina Colis is a Mexican drummer, percussionist, and vocalist based in New York City who graduated Summa Cum Laude in Berklee College of Music in 2006. Her musical work is characterized by a diversity of rhythms and styles, combining the roots of various Latin/South American traditions with elements of Jazz, Fusion, and Pop. Karina has been member of several projects, having performed at many international festivals and jazz venues in over twenty countries, such as Birdland Jazz Club (Alon Yavnai, feating Paquito D’Rivera), Smalls (Sharel Cassity), Lincoln Center, Blue Note Jazz Festival in New York City (Gregorio Uribe Big Band), Tales Jazz Festival in Egypt (Monika Herzig & Sheroes), Teatro Colon in Colombia (Gregorio Uribe Big Band), Beantown Jazz Festival (Mango Blue), opening act for Dee Dee Bridgewater, featuring drummer Antonio Sanchez, Calcutta Jazz Festival in India (Guitar Prasanna), Womyn Michigan Festival (Cocomama), WOMAD in UK, Virada Cultural in Brazil, Montreal Jazz Festival in Canada, Fusion Festival in Germany, New Morning in Paris, Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona Spain, and Vive Latino in Mexico City (Chicha Libre), just to name a few. As a music educator, Karina has been on the faculty Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Chennai in India for two years and has participated in several workshops and at many colleges and universities within the USA.

ArcoIris Sandoval is a jazz pianist, composer, and Fulbright award recipient currently residing in New York City and originally from Arizona. She obtained her master's degree in jazz piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music and has won several ASCAP young jazz composer awards. She was also a semifinalist in the Montreux Solo Jazz Piano competition, a participant in the Mary Lou Williams Festival, Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, and the Metropole Orkest Arrangers Workshop directed by Vince Mendoza featuring Richard Bona. One of her arrangements was performed by the Metropole Orkest at the 2016 BBC Proms tribute to Quincy Jones and again by Tammy McCann at Lincoln Center in 2017. She has also performed at major festivals throughout the world including the Telluride Jazz Festival, the Tucson Jazz Festival with Lonnie Plaxico opening for Tower of Power in 2017 and with Jimmy Cobb, the Vancouver Summer Festival, London Jazz Festival, and many others throughout China, Europe, India, South America, and Mexico. She was recently a finalist at the inaugural Ellis Marsalis Jazz Piano Competition in summer 2018. ArcoIris and bassist Mimi Jones are the co-directors and composers for The D.O.M.E. Experience, which is an environmentally and socially motivated orchestra featuring cinematography as well as dance and has a roster of acclaimed musicians including Jamie Baum, Steve Wilson, Dayna Stephens, and many others. She is actively performing and touring with several ensembles including with Allan Harris, Shirazette Tinnin, the Mimi Jones Band, and her own Sonic Asylum trio and quintet

project. She has recorded on Eugene Marlow’s album Obrigado Brasil, which made it to the first round of Grammy nominations in 2016, and WBGO considered a Latin Jazz premium album in 2017. She released her debut Sonic Asylum Trio album in summer 2018 with MEII Enterprises entitled First Voyage, featuring Marty Kenney on bass and Allan Mednard on drums which recently won a Global Music Award.

Philadelphia born bassist Nimrod Speaks started his musical progression at the age of 16 years old, first learning bass with Ricardo Jackson and eventually adding the upright double bass upon entering college. While obtaining his bachelor’s degree in music from Kutztown University and a master’s in jazz studies from Rutgers University, Nimrod continued his musical journey on the bandstand and honed his craft in not only jazz, but also gospel, classical, soul, R&B, and African rhythms. You can hear much of Speaks’ soulful tone and influences from masters like Ralph Bowen, Tim Warfield, Conrad Herwig, Doug Mapp, Vic Juris, Victor Lewis, Stanley Cowell, Mike Richmond, and Scott Lee, just to name a few. Speaks splits his time between teaching privately, ministering with nonprofit organizations and traveling with Greg Osby, Ronnie Burrage, and Doc Gibbs. Most recently, you can hear Nimrod as part of the Allan Harris Band. His travels have sent him on journeys around the world. Nimrod is also part of the adjunct faculty at Eastern University teaching string bass.

Allan Harris Trio: 100 Years of Nat King Cole Friday, November 1, 2019 at 8pm Tickets: $35-$55

Tickets may be purchased by calling 720-509-1000, Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm or at www.LoneTreeArtsCenter.org.

Bellco is the Lone Tree Arts Center’s 2019-2020 season sponsor. This presentation is sponsored by U.S. Bank and is made possible in part thanks to the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, Colorado Creative Industries, and National Endowment for the Arts.

# # #